Chronic Disease Management Software Development – Benefits & Key Features

Chronic Disease Management software development is considered really challenging in the arena of healthcare, with there being a number of chronic ailments such as chronic lung & kidney disease, heart problems, and diabetes, there is just no end. Now, these ailments require the patients to maintain a daily self-management routine and manage crucial interactions with the healthcare document management system, thus to avoid any complications and control symptoms.

As per the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention data, 86 percent of the nation’s $2.7 trillion annual health care expenditures are for people with chronic and mental health conditions.

However, there are several means to decrease these costs, such as early prevention as well as the usage of efficient chronic disease management software development. Several healthcare software solutions are designed for specialized medical devices used by hospitals, as well as for desktops, smartphones, and tablets that enable self-care and monitoring at home. Thus, it helps patients, doctors, nurses, and the patient’s families to prevent the adverse effect of a disease.

Market Overview of Chronic Disease Management Software Development

• Researchers estimated that by 2023, the chronic care management software industry will be worth $11.78 billion.
• Projections indicate a 14.1% compound annual growth rate, reaching $13.44 billion in 2024.
• It is anticipated that the market would maintain its strong growth.
• At a CAGR of 14.4%, it is projected to reach $23.05 billion by 2028.
• Another study predicts that the market for chronic care management software would expand from $20 billion in 2025 to $18.4 billion in 2033, a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 13.9%.
• By 2024, the chronic disease management market is projected to be dominated by the provider’s segment.
• In 2024, the Global Chronic Disease Management Market is expected to be led by North America with a revenue share of 45.4%.

What is Chronic Disease Management Software Development?

As we mentioned above, many healthcare software solutions are available, and one of them is Chronic Disease Management Software, specifically developed to manage chronic ailments like cancer, diabetes, blood pressure, and heart disease. By taking patients’ families and friends into account, we witness that chronic conditions affect all of us. This is the reason why it is crucial to improve chronic conditions management. Today there are a number of Chronic Disease Management Software Development Companies out there enhancing the quality of care and empowering continuous communication with the patients. The technology offers:

• Remote care integration, which is useful to reduce appointments at the organization
• Advanced patient engagement
• Better health outcomes, lesser risk of complications, readmissions & exacerbations
• It delivers high-level care via a constant health data exchange between the patients and healthcare providers.

Common Challenges in Chronic Disease Management Software Development?

Any disease or chronic condition requires consistent treatment, however, the current way of treating chronic diseases raises the issue of interrupted care. Here, the challenges come in the form of ill-timed medical attention. So, the physicians certainly can’t foresee patients’ health deterioration, and thus chronic care delivery often results in treating complications ad exacerbations instead of preventing them. And as soon as the patient gets discharged, their health status, comprising daily activities, problems, nutrition, and behavior, becomes a mystery till the next appointment or admission. It is nearly impossible to solve this equation without systematic care and constant data flow between patients & providers. Making use of the latest technologies, it will be possible to prolong a patient’s life and avoid severe complications.

How is Chronic Disease Management Software Development helpful?

Having a CDMS is a great help to the providers, patients, and staff. The system connects to EHR (electronic health records) and the mobile app on a patient’s smartphone and enables health data analysis by sending alerts and processing information. This specialized healthcare software help patients in controlling their disease in the comfort of their homes. Healthcare providers can assist them by staying in touch, via mobile apps and gathering their objective and subjective and analyzing the data to form a full picture of the patient’s conditions. You can build this central system to fit numerous chronic ailments and support specific web pages and mobile apps for particular diseases. There are two implementation options:

• Custom CDMS solution development
• CRM-based development on Microsoft Dynamics CRM or Salesforce

What are the benefits of Chronic Disease Management Software/App?

Well, having a Chronic Disease Management Software for healthcare can be fruitful in a number of ways, like it allows healthcare providers to offer value-added-service to patients for better results, enable payors/employers to lessen healthcare costs via proactive and timely interventions & compliance with the care plan and it also serves pharma companies by helping them in development of a market for their drugs via drug-centric disease management and compliance management. Hence, it is clear that the CDMS has a lot to offer to providers, administrations, and as well as staff. Let’s explore a few more here:

Benefits for Administration

• CDMS allows you to design your own QA reports and track improvements
• It offers documentation and treatment plans for each patient
• Automated reporting of quality, productivity, and pay-for-performance measures
• Reduces costs and generates more revenues

Benefits for Physicians

• Allows to remotely access patient’s info via a secure internet connection
• Automated reporting features based on pay-for-performance & quality benchmarks
• Automated tracking & management of non-compliant patients in case of missed appointments/blood draws
• Improved efficiency and reduces unnecessary phone calls from staff
• Receives Automatic alerts for new lab reports and changes in critical values
• Risk profiles can be created on the basis of conditions, diagnosis, and medications
• Establishes standardized treatment protocols for chronic condition management.

Benefits for Staff

• Enable them to track non-compliant patients, eliminating the time spent to check and re-check labs for non-compliant patients. The system keeps track of these patients and applies pre-set protocols to deal with each patient.
• Clear & consistent communication with patients and healthcare professionals can take place with automated communication tools.
• A standardized treatment plan simplifies management and reduces errors.

Must-Have features in Chronic Disease Management Software Development

• Health education tools, comprising online & print materials as well as an audio reference library
• Shared decision-making tools on preference-sensitive and chronic conditions, thus to educate and guide members on treatment choices and condition management
• Post-hospital discharge outreach which is helpful in avoiding unnecessary readmissions
• 24/7 inbound telephonic access to Health Coaches for acute, urgent, acute & and self-care needs
• Outbound telephonic whole-person health coaching focused on reducing gaps
• Multi-channel engagement campaigns via web chat, text, email, mail, telephone, or interactive voice recognition outreach
• Robust analytics for stratifying your population based on key risk indicators
• NCQA accreditation for major chronic diseases and support for co-morbid and preference-sensitive conditions
• Comprehensive reporting on operational metrics, patient satisfaction, and clinical & financial outcomes

Read More: Digital Signage Software Development: Cost and Features

Crucial features of Chronic Disease Management Software Development

It is vital to ensure that healthcare providers systematically deliver face-to-face care for chronic disease patients, and this can largely be achieved through a Chronic Disease Management Software (CDMS). So, here, let’s explore the many crucial features of this system:

• Team-based care & care coordination across the providers
• Setting up multiple-care programs & protocols (AWV, CCM, TCM, etc.)
• Documentation for billing purposes also includes CMS CPT code 99490
• User reports & Statistics, from them administrators can analyze staff workload as well as recognize highly efficient coaches, care coordinators & nurses
• Implemented across multiple care-provider teams, letting each group focus on their work as well as share crucial information
• Flag patients by risk, condition, or program to easily identify and monitor
• Risk profiler is crucial to assign a risk level to each patient & to adjust tracking based on risk
• Customizable workflow processes
• Records & logs time for each patient interaction
• Customized questionnaires are created for patient follow-up
• Create electronic care plans, assign teams & separate tasks among nurses, physicians, and coach coordinators.
• Automated alerts in case of trigger situations, thus to alert healthcare providers
• Integrated with Hospital EMR, Lab & Drug backbone to automatically extract patient information
• In compliance with HIPPA
• Integrated SMS & Web submission module that enables patients to submit readings remotely
• Care Notes & Memos in order to keep a track of observations by healthcare providers as well as instructions to patients.
• Track Communication between healthcare providers & patients

Also read: Change Management Software Development: Cost, Features

How to create a Chronic Illness Management Software & mobile app?

If you are keen on developing medical software and apps for chronic disease management, then here are a few aspects you need to take care of:

• Prior to beginning with the development, you need to define what kind of app you really require for your healthcare institution. Like you need to decide whether it will be a usual symptom checker or there is a need for a complex chronic illness assistant app. The requirements of functionality will obviously translate into the cost of development.
• You need to have a treatment plan behind the development of CDMS, and for this, you will require to cooperate with healthcare professionals to create one.
• Keep note of the compliance. The healthcare system has certain and definite standards applied to healthcare apps (such as HIPPA, HL7, etc.).
• Get in touch with the right IT partner who is well-equipped to deliver a satisfying product as per your requirements. Not just this partner should develop software, but also ensure QA, testing and provide after-support.
• Once the software is ready, you will require support and update it regularly as per patients’ needs and market changes.

Look for an experienced CDMS Software Developer who has been established in the arena and has delivered successful projects in the past.

Why is Data Analytics & Reporting crucial in CDMS Software and Apps?

This layer transforms scattered information particles into vital insights that support the patient’s chronic condition care cycle. Physicians and CDMS can then use this data for further care management. Here, there are two implementation alternatives:

• A dedicated chronic disease analytical system can be created with a data warehouse, backed by OLAP cubes & visualized through dashboards, charts, and reports
• Data can be loaded to the central clinical data warehouse, and analysis is conducted there

Why is it important to have a CDMS in the form of mobile apps as well?

Always at patients’ fingertips, an app will prove to be effective, engaging, and a lot more convenient. Patients are already accustomed to mHealth apps, so they can easily track their nutrition, weight, and wellness. They just have to fill in forms regarding their general well-being (subjective & objective), medications, and daily regimen, and then tap on the Send button to share this data with the healthcare providers. Also, the app notifies health specialists about patients’ updates (subjective & objective), and negative trends in patients. Conditions and upcoming appointments. Thus, providers receive a symbiotic system with connected patients & physicians. Meanwhile, it is suggested to get different apps developed for particular chronic conditions. After all, each ailment needs to be managed specifically, then why settle for one common healthcare IT solution? The app is a key provider-patient point, and it handles in-bound and out-bound data flow, enabling it to interact with patients effectively.

Patient to Provider Data Flow

• Subjective: Fever, pain, nausea, shiver, headache, muscle spasms, discomfort& more
• Objective: Glycose level, blood pressure, temperature & more
• Medication intake data

Also Read: Doctor on Demand Mobile App Development Cost and Key Features

Provider to Patient Data Flow

• Instructions on checking vitals, appropriate use of medications, improving physical activity & more
• Alerts regarding medication management, lab results, scheduled appointments & more
• Nutrition recommendations
• Medication intake scheme
• Motivation elements: goal setting, social-media sharing &gamification

It is recommended to create a cross-platform mobile app and the Xamarin technology comes around as a great choice to support patients with Android and iOS devices. Also, the app would be able to connect to wearables and chronic ailments-related devices.

Why is it important to choose the right Chronic Disease Management Software Development Company?

You need to partner with an experienced healthcare software development company because healthcare software is integrated with several other software and APIs and you need to have a skilled and experienced team of developers that can deal with any kind of complications while the development process. Moreover, medical software must insure various medical compliances. As you begin the process of choosing the right company for Custom Chronic Disease Management Software/Mobile App Development, you need to keep a few things in mind. Well, it is vital that you be clear about your requirements from the start and do ensure that the following features will be provided by the development firm.

• Easy to use & feature-rich
• Integrated with the EHR system of the healthcare practice
• Data Security (GDPR-compliant)
• In compliance with HIPPA, HL7, And GDPR
• EPA (Electronic Prior Authorization) Integrated
• Efficiently works on all devices (Desktops, Mobile & Tablets)

Once you find a firm that ensures these features, you can then look at other aspects, such as the firm’s reputation, past offerings and experiences, a team of developers and designers, and other essential aspects.

What is the cost to develop a Custom Chronic Disease Management Software/Mobile App?

Several aspects must be considered when determining the cost of developing Custom Chronic Disease Management Software that complies with GDPR. It is a huge system connecting doctors, clinical staff, and patients in this one place. So, as it comes to the development cost, several factors affect it, such as the need for specialized software development consulting services, system complexity, integration with existing platforms, and compliance requirements.

• Basic Features & Functionalities
• Additional & Advance Features
• Development Platforms (Android/iOS)
• Size of the development team
• Development Partner Location
• Certifications & Compliances
• Third-Party API Integrations

Future Trends in Chronic Disease Management Software Development

Here are some next generation technologies that you can integrate in chronic disease management healthcare software development.

1. Clinical Decision Support Systems (CDSS)

CDSS makes patient records, including medical history, allergies, and symptoms, more easily available. Using big data analytics applied to electronic health records, a CDSS functions as an information management tool, offering recommendations to the healthcare practitioner. 

2. Telehealth Integration

Telehealth services play an extensive role in improving patient-provider contact and enabling continuous remote monitoring, which enhances care accessibility in chronic illness management programs.

3. Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML)

Using artificial intelligence and machine learning in data analysis is becoming more and more important as it helps to provide more accurate forecasts of illness development and tailored therapy suggestions depending on patient data.

4. Patient-Centric Approaches

Digital platforms supporting self-management, education, and help for chronic illness patients increasingly emphasize patient participation and empowerment.

5. Focus on Mental Health

Understanding the connection between mental health issues and chronic illnesses, several management initiatives increasingly include mental health support services in their treatment plans for patients.

FAQs

What are the main benefits of using CDM software in healthcare?

Here are some major benefits of using CDM software development in healthcare:

• Constant patient monitoring allows CDM software to assist spot early warning signals and modify treatment approaches.
• Automates daily duties like report production, prescription reminders, and appointment scheduling, therefore freeing time for medical professionals.
• Improved coordination of diverse healthcare professionals and experts guarantees a comprehensive approach to patient care by means of their cooperation.
• Effective control of chronic diseases helps to avoid problems, hence lowering hospital readmissions and expensive emergency treatment.
• Access to personal health data helps patients to participate more actively in controlling their condition.

What key features should CDM software have?

Good CDM systems should possess the following features:

• Real-time surveillance of vital signs, symptoms, and health indicators coupled with notifications for deviations from the treatment plan.
• Tools for examining patient data to spot patterns, project outcomes, and guide choices in data analytics and reporting are:
• Recommendations based on patient data and established practices support clinical decision support in helping doctors modify therapies.
• Coordination with EHR/EMR Systems: flawless patient data exchange amongst systems for group treatment.
• Mobile applications, portals, or SMS reminders enabling patients to keep on target with their treatment regimens assist to engage them.

How does CDM software help improve patient adherence to treatment plans?

CDM tools help patients to adhere by offering:

• Reminders for medicine, appointments, and lifestyle changes sent automatically help patients stay on target.
• Offers pertinent materials like videos, articles, and advice to help sufferers control their illness.
• Visual graphs or dashboards displaying patient development reveal advancement tracking, thereby motivating continuous dedication.
• Direct messaging between patients and healthcare practitioners helps to ease communication channels, therefore facilitating queries or concerns reporting.